Traveler's Hat : Lousiana

I have flown at almost all hours of the day, early mornings, red eye flights and the airport seems to always be busy. People walking, running, talking racing to their next departure. Call me strange but I kind of like being in the hussel and bussel of the airport. Knowing that in a few steps, and in an hour or so I will set foot on a machine that will lift me 1,000s of feet in there air and take me to a new location. It took me all day to fly from LAX to New Orleans. I had a 3 hour lay over in Charlotte, North Carolina which is one of the busiest airports. I got through with two beers and the airport's Wifi. When I finally landed, I was reminded that chivalry is not entirely dead when a young man helped me retrieve my bag from the overhead bin. Being greeted by my aunt and cousin in the airport was refreshing. Driving to my aunt's house, the night had already crept in and looking out the window all I could see was darkness. The trees were like shadows. We drove on the high way with no other lights escape our car and the cars we passed, running over the swamp water which is known to be a mysterious abyss. As we passed through the small town of Pochanitia , I saw the Western style building of mostly antique shops. There is something refreshing about having a change of scenery and being in the calmness of the country side. Advice to help you through your next airport visit: 1.Always get their early because getting through security always takes at least 20-30 mins 2. If you have an extra $85 lying around you can apply for TSA prep. It is a chance to walk through security pre screened, which means you'll get through faster and you won't have to do any of the annoying but necessary things such as taking off you shoes or taking your computer out of your bag. 3. Eat before you go, airport and airplane food is just expensive 4. Keep calm. I ran into a few disgruntle people. Being angry isn't gonna make you get to your plane faster 5. Bring entertainment: Book, tablet, music 6. Talk to people. You don't have to spend the entire airplane riding pretending like you are in an elevator and you can't make eye contact to the person next you. I had a lovely conversation with a lady and it made the plane ride go faster. ( results may vary) Trip Highlights 1.I woke up early to the sun gleaming through the curtains and the sound of birds chirping in the tree outside of my window. A refreshing change from being woken up by either my alarm , speeding cars, or someone taking out the trash from the restaurant I live next door to. 2. Visiting the Bug Museum in New Orleans. Somewhat conquered my fears as I stared into the eyes of spiders, cockroach, flies, beetles and much more. The butterfly garden was delightful. 3. The French Market in New Orleans, great place to get fresh smoothies, fresh produce, 4. Enjoy the quietness of the countryside and just lounging around.

Bahamas

A little video of life on the islands....

Sunset Hike

We had made it to the trail just as the sun was peaking over the horizon. Slowly slipping behind the ocean as if he was trying to get one last look at the world he spent the last 10 hours looking over. As we walked down the trail and as I conversed with my friend I was repeatedly drawn to the sunset. And after snapping numerous pictures of it, I couldn't help but constantly change my gaze from the trail that was in front of me to the colorful painting in the sky. I couldn't help wondering where these colors came from, what determined their design. And without the urge to really understand why I just gazed in admiration. And even as darkness began to blanket the trees and the ground around us, their was still a layer of pink in the sky that seemed to not want to let go.

Metamorphus

Metamorphosis- The eyes of a child gazes at the world in amazement. Not fully understanding their surrounds but taking in everything that is observed. The eyes of an adult does not gaze but watches, observes, analyzes and sometimes looks over. When we grow older our brains learn to critically think, a crucial skill nonetheless, but it is as if our brains were told that you can't believe in both logic and magic. I was reminded of this youthful amazement when a parent brought in some caterpillars to our class. When we presented the caterpillars and talked about the process with the children, and had them share their ideas, they were so excited about it that caterpillars and butterflies became the center of the world. I would often check on the caterpillars to see how the were doing. To see if they had started webbing so that we can move them to their nest. I looked at them merely as an observer not as an admirer. They were hairy and weird looking to me. After a few days I caught myself. I was treating these creatures, who in their first state weren't the most attractive things , like a daily task. I've talked about the process, spent most of my day reading books about these creatures but never stopped to really think how this process is truly unique, amazing and really unexplainable. How one creature can start off in one form and completely change it's genetic makeup. As we grow older and the responsibilities pile on everything because a job, or a task to complete. And half the time the most enjoyment we get is from consuming the contents of a bottle or from escaping on a vacation to a foreign place. Us adults need to remember to pause and realize the beauty, the wonder and the mystery around us and appreciate it. While our brain holds countless information, mostly of all the things we need to take care, it also holds our memories. I want my memories to be of something beautiful, remember the smell of a flower,or the smiles of my friends and families. Things will always need to get done, and eventually we will get them done, but if we don't appreciate the little things I feel like we are all caterpillars stuck in our cocoons. Stuck inside of chrysalis of routine, tasks, and order. Never letting ourselves become as beautiful as we can be, never turning into that butterfly and soaring through life. The irony of this story is that when we got the caterpillars we accidentally almost killed them. We put the container that they were inside in a glass jar that sealed tight. We thought an extra layer around their original jar would keep them safe in case one of our children decided to pick up the jar, or if it got knocked over. Didn't take into account that by locking the jar we were cutting off their oxygen flow. Luckily we reopened the jar just in time, right before the passed out forever. Taking this experience a step further, if you don't see the beauty and the wonder in a caterpillar turning into a butterfly take the time to find the beauty and wonder in your life. Whether its someone always remembering your birthday, receiving or giving a handmade gift. Look through the eyes of a child and see if you are amazed.

Volcano

A month before my trip to Costa Rica, I did quite a lot of hiking. However, all of those hikes did not seem to prepare me for hiking the volcano. When we drove up to the volcano it was so interesting to see the greenery along the rode as I am used to seeing concrete paths, and buildings and homes. We passed by fruit trees and what they called a living fence where plants grew around the barb wired and created a barrier of plants. When we finally got to the hiking spot it had started to drizzle and there was a deep fog that hung down but that didn't stop us from venturing off. Another things that didn't stop us were the " in case of eruption signs". When we started off on the hike it was pretty simple. There was a section where there were steps which made the hike pretty easy. However after those sections it was a continuous uphill climb. There were a few times where I can to stop and readjust myself to the steepness and the altitude, but I persevered nonetheless. As the fog rolled in more and the rain drops danced down from the sky, it seemed the elevate the colors of the plants growing along the trail. Various shades of green, brown , red and gold shimmered through. Some of the plants grew outward, as if they were boldly expressing who they were and showing off their color and diverse shape. Other plants were more humble and grew low, folded over and blanketed the the earth. Our hike not only brought us a diversity of plants but a diversity of people too. French, German, American, South American, families, children, people young and old all walked over each other footprints on the path up the Volcano. When we got to the crater we looked over the edge to be amazed and all we saw was fog. The fog that had rolled in when we started our hike had beat us to the top and claimed the crater for no one else to see. A slight disappointment but the victory wasn't just in the destination but the journey of making it to the top. When headed back down we had to make a quick stop to this small little shop that sold delicious strawberries that grew off the volcano and the wine they made from the strawberries. Our final stop was too a restaurant where I had one of the most delicious meals I ever had. I order the chicken with rice and beans and the chicken so was soft and tender that is was practically falling off the bone. Very flavorful and filling. After our bellies were we were off to our shoe distribution for the day. Our shoe distribution this day went by very fast, as the children were very close to be let out of school for the day. However a short distribution led to us being able to play with the children. Right after the distribution a soccer game was started. I felt a little guilty jumping into the game, although I was invited I am a horrible soccer player. But although I kicked the ball a grand total of one time, I could not stop laughing and smiling.Seeing the interactions the children had, and the excitement and energy that flowed through them filled me with such joy.Even though I didn't understand everything they said but I studied their body language and watched their mannerisms and could see the bonds the children had within each other. Through watching them I felt welcomed and honored to be accepted amongst them. After playing a few games and running around, we decided to take some of the extra shoes we had to a school in one of the squatter communities. As we drove up , we passed by a wall that was built around the school. This was no ordinary wall, this wall was specifically built to prevent outsiders from giving the children drugs to sell. A wall that could only hide a small portion of the tragic things the children are exposed to. When we set up our supplies, the children rushed over. The line was so long you would have thought they were waiting to get on a Disneyland ride. The children were filled with anxious energy, and they tried their best to hold in their excitement as they waited to get their new pairs of shoes. When we took a break from passing out shoes the children loved to be in front of the camera. Many of the rushed to be in a group photo and enjoyed making silly faces and exaggerated poses in front of the camera. It warmed my heart to see the smiles and hear the laughter from the children knowing that outside of their school's walls they faced many challenges, and temptations that robbed them of their childhood.